Northwestern Athletes Vote on Forming Union

April 26, 2014

EVANSTON, Ill. - In a historic vote, Northwestern University football players cast secret ballots Friday on whether to form the nation's first union for college athletes - a decision that could change the landscape of American amateur sports.

"You got to give the people what they want!" one of the players shouted at reporters, who were kept away from the players as they entered a campus building to vote. Some waved and another showed off some dance moves.

The results of the closely watched vote will not be known for some time. After two rounds of voting on this 19,000-student campus, the ballot boxes were sealed and will remain so for weeks, months, perhaps even years as the university challenges the effort to unionize the team.

Still, some of those behind the push were already celebrating, saying that even if a union is voted down, the campaign has the power to change things.

"We're one step closer to a world where college athletes are not stuck with sports-related medical bills, do not lose their scholarships when they are injured, are not subject to unnecessary brain trauma and are given better opportunities to complete their degree," said former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, who helped lead the effort with the help of the United Steelworkers.

The full National Labor Relations Board has agreed to hear the Northwestern's appeal of a regional director's March ruling that the players are university employees and thus can unionize. Ballots will remain impounded until that process is finished, and perhaps until after any court fight that might follow a decision.

Supporters say a union would help athletes obtain better compensation, medical care for injuries and other benefits. One day before the vote, the NCAA endorsed a plan that would give big schools like Northwestern much more autonomy to address such issues for its athletes.

None of the players participating in the voting stopped to talk with reporters, but the excitement of some was evident as they waved or thrust their arms into the air in view of TV news cameras. Sophomore Michael Odom, 20, said he quit the team a couple months ago because the demands of playing football were detracting from his studies for a journalism degree. Though he wasn't eligible to vote, he called a union "long overdue" and had heard from his former teammates they felt pressured to vote against it.

"I don't know if intimidation is the word I'd use. I think that's a little strong. I know a lot of my teammates have been influenced by former players as well as coaches and officials at the university," Odom said, adding that parents got emails from university officials urging them to press their children to vote no.

Last month's decision by NLRB's regional director sent shockwaves through college sports, prompting criticism from the NCAA, Northwestern and athletic departments nationwide. While the ruling would apply only to private universities - they are subject to federal labor law while public schools are under state law - many saw the decision as a first step toward the end of the traditional "student-athlete" era.